【Source】

《Shanghan Lun (Treatise on Cold Damage)》

 【Ingredients】

Gypsum, Ephedra, Apricot Kernel, Prepared Licorice Root
(4)

 【Ingredient Categories】

<Tonify Spleen and Qi>: Licorice Root

<Pungent-Warm Release Exterior>: Ephedra

<Clear Heat and Purge Fire>: Gypsum

<Stop Cough and Relieve Asthma>: Apricot Kernel

【Formula Explanation】

《Shan Bu (Supplement and Revision)》: Ke Qin states: Gypsum is a powerful agent for clearing fire, and both Qinglong (Blue Dragon) and Baihu (White Tiger) formulas rely on it to achieve their effects. However, improper use can lead to disaster. Therefore, Qinglong is for cases with absence of sweating and vexation, using ginger and cinnamon twig to disperse exterior Yang; Baihu is for cases with sweating and intense thirst, requiring rice to preserve stomach fluids. This formula is for heat without cold, thus ginger and cinnamon twig are not used. Asthma is in the lung, not the stomach, so rice is not needed. The emphasis is on preserving Yin, without needing to worry about the loss of Yang. Thus, from <a href='https://whatsintcm.com/dt_articles/Ma Huang Tang/’>Ma Huang Tang, the regulating action of Cinnamon Twig is removed, and the specific opening action of Ephedra, the descending action of Apricot Kernel, the harmonizing action of Licorice Root, and a doubled dose of the greatly cold Gypsum are used to eliminate internal and external excess heat. This induces profuse sweating, thereby relieving both internal and external vexation, heat, and asthma.《Kanpo (Traditional Japanese Medicine)》: This formula is a modification of <a href='https://whatsintcm.com/dt_articles/Ma Huang Tang/’>Ma Huang Tang, where Cinnamon Twig is removed and Gypsum is added. Therefore, the indications for this formula are not the exterior syndrome of <a href='https://whatsintcm.com/dt_articles/Ma Huang Tang/’>Ma Huang Tang, meaning there is no aversion to cold. Instead, there is internal heat, accompanied by thirst and spontaneous sweating. The Gypsum in this formula acts as a heat-clearing agent, working with Ephedra and Apricot Kernel to clear heat, relieve pain, and treat cough, asthma, and spontaneous sweating. Ephedra and Apricot Kernel promote blood circulation, disperse fluid retention, and treat cough and asthma. Licorice Root harmonizes the various herbs and enhances their therapeutic effects.

 【Functions】

Pungent and cool to vent and release, clear lung and relieve asthma.

 【Therapeutic Effects】

(1) External wind evil, unresolved fever, counterflow cough and shortness of breath, nasal pain, thirst, with or without sweating, thin white or yellow tongue coating, and slippery, rapid pulse. (2) Without the exterior syndrome of <a href='https://whatsintcm.com/dt_articles/Ma Huang Tang/’>Ma Huang Tang, no aversion to cold, only internal heat, accompanied by thirst and spontaneous sweating.《Shan Bu (Supplement and Revision)》: Treats internal warm-heat manifestation, with heat in both exterior and interior, headache and body aches, aversion to heat instead of cold, anhidrosis with asthma, severe vexation and thirst, and superficial pulse in both Yin and Yang positions; used to induce sweating and clear fire.

 【Clinical Applications】

Common cold, pneumonia, bronchitis, bronchial asthma, cardiac asthma, whooping cough, mild diphtheria, measles, colds in infants and young children, pain from hemorrhoids.

 【Mnemonic】

The formula name is derived from its ingredients.

 【Modifications】

(1) If fever is severe, add Honeysuckle Flower, Forsythia Fruit, Scutellaria Root, Anemarrhena Rhizome to clear heat and detoxify. (2) If cough with abundant phlegm and shortness of breath due to phlegm obstruction, add Trichosanthes Fruit, Fritillaria Bulb, Perilla Seed, Mulberry Bark to descend Qi, transform phlegm, and relieve asthma. (3) If severe heat damages Yin, add White Peony Root, Rehmannia Root to nourish Yin. (4) If lung heat is severe with robust fever and sweating, increase the dosage of Gypsum to clear lung heat. (5) If there is no sweating with aversion to cold, indicating a predominant exterior evil, appropriately add Peppermint, Perilla Leaf, Mulberry Leaf to aid in releasing the exterior and ventilating the lung.